More than you bargained
by AspiringWriterGirl
Summary: It's been a long time since Serenity was able to restock, but when no one can wait any longer, they might just wish they hadn't
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer – I don't own anything

**The White Sun system**

"Come on Mal, that was one good ship we could raided it and then, well- Then we would already have been able to resupply instead of, not resupplying," Jayne growled in the hope that the Captain would change his mind.

Captain Reynolds of Serenity gripped the overhead bar as he stood beside Wash and huffed in annoyance, "Jayne, I told you before! It was nowhere near big enough. It's just not nearly worth it." Mal turned his attention back towards the task at hand. "Go take us past that asteroid belt there." Mal pointed to the streaming cluster of rocks that littered the windscreen.

"I really don't think it's a good idea to miss out on supplies, Mal-" Wash halted mid-sentence when he realised that his Captain was giving him a deathly stare. "You got it, Captain," Wash added as he tilted the helm to one side. "You might want to brace yourselves. This might turn in for a bumpy ride."

Mal took that as a warning and stretched out over Wash and to grab the ship's radio. "This is Captain Reynolds speaking. Brace yourselves and hold onto something tight."

Serenity started to dodge the obstacles in her path, and tipped from side to side at various awkward angles through the asteroid belt.

"Steady, Wash, steady." Mal swung about, his grip tightening on the bar. He fought to keep the grin off his face. Each time Serenity tumbled violently he felt the thrill, anticipation, adrenaline and a sense of danger. It felt just like trying to shake off someone from the Authority. That's what he loved about going through asteroid belts. They allowed the sense of thrill to course through his veins as Serenity tumbled about, swinging violently.

"Woo. Woah! Wee," Wash squawked. "Wow!" The usual calls and exclamations that Wash would use followed and he let out a deep sigh once they were out. "Let's do that again!"

"Let's not do that again honey, no matter how much you think Mal tries to bully you into it," Zoe said sternly as she came up the stairs to the main control room. "That's the last thing we want to be doing right now."

Jayne inched his way closer to the front of Serenity, where he searched for some kind of ship that they could ransack. A grin crept across his face when, in the distance orbiting a nearby planet was, another ship. "Okay, that is one we have to board," he frowned at Mal's exasperated glare, "don't look at me like that, it's got treasure on it, I know it. I can smell it. It's in the air."

"I can also smell dinner, we'll leave the ship alone for a moment, Jayne, how does that sound?" Zoe pushed the three guys down towards the canteen where a bowl of unappealing grey slop had been dished out amongst the crew. "What is-"

"This is dinner." Kaylee smiled, she then screwed her eyes shut as she took a mouthful. "It's all I could find."

Jayne lifted the bowl off the table. "Hey… Another reason that we should raid the ship. There may be food supplies. Food supplies that we need. And I ain't going to keep eating this sludge Mal. Some real food is nice too, you know." In much disgust to his crew mates, Jayne tipped the bowl's content onto the floor. The grey porridge like substance splashed out over the floor, some specs dotted the crew's shoes and trousers.

"Gross," Kaylee moaned before going back to at least try and finish her own dinner.

"I agree," Simon agreed.

"Now, now, children. Let the man eat in peace, even if he has already finished…" Zoe added in an attempt to keep the peace amongst the ship.

The past few days had been hard and difficult for them, the food was in short supply, they were weary and had become paranoid over a possible Reaver attacks, and not to mention the Alliance were hot on their tails. Today had been no exception. The last thing that they needed was for a brawl or dispute amongst the crew.

"We need to make a decision as to what our next plan of action should be. Things certainly aren't getting any easier." Shepherd carried his bowl across to the sink and looked across at the others. "Maybe we should investigate the ship, if it's got food, then why not?"

"I'm not sure, what if there's a reason it's been abandoned? What if it's food supply is infected?" Simon countered with worry and caution in his voice. Something which the rest of the crew seemed to be lacking in. "We need to be reasonable. On top of everything else, we have little medical supply. I mean, the last thing we need is a disease on the ship."

"I agree with Simon." Kaylee smiled across the table at the young doctor.

"No points for answering why…" Jayne mumbled to himself. "So what do you say, Mal? Are you going or not?"

"I've got a plan. You got on that ship, and you go find what you seek-" Mal looked at Jayne, part of him wanted to move on and leave the ship behind, but where was the fun in that? He was a smuggler after all. "Whenever you're ready."

Jayne stood up almost immediately. "Well I'm ready now. What are you waiting for?"

Mal nodded and followed Jayne out onto the docking station. "Don't you want a suit? As much as I hate to say it, the Doc could be right."

"I'll take my chances," Jayne insisted. In a swift movement, he holstered his favourite pistol in its holder. "I'm ready."

"I'll leave you with it then." Mal turned and strode out of the docking station. When he turned back towards Jayne, the pair exchanged a hopeful glance. Then, Mal closed the door leaving Jayne to prepare himself to board the waiting ship that was defenceless.

Jayne waited for the connection to be made with the other ship. It seemed to take an age for the two ships to make a connection. The more time that Jayne waited, the more agitated he became, and he started to shift his shift between his legs. When the air lock sealed, a loud hiss filled the air. The connection had been made and silence filled the air, it begged Jayne to raid the ship.

"What can you see, Jayne?" he heard Mal's voice echo from the black communicator box.

Jayne saw loose pipes that littered the corridor he walked along. It made his progress even slower. He walked slowly along the devastated corridor. A few electrical sparks made him jump a little, sometimes, the sparks caught his side. Jayne tried to block out the pain as he carried on down the path. The thought of food and supply overpowered his other senses but, soon enough, he found the main loading bay soon enough. The electronics were still all in good working. Jayne even sat down in the comfy looking pilot chair and fiddled with the switches. Not even the starter sequence would initiate. The click of a gun startled Jayne and he froze.

"What are you doing here?" a ill sounding voice asked.

Jayne raised his eyebrows; this was going to be a piece of cake. Jayne's hand slipped around the trigger of his own pistol. He stopped when he saw his opponent. A dirty, dishevelled and weak man leant against the wall with an even weaker gun than Jayne's weakest in his hand. The man's hands shook an unbelievable amount and sweat from dripping from his head. He looked a right state.

"You shouldn't have come here," the man rasped. "You're infected now."

"Infected? What do you mean?" Jayne asked menacingly as he held his shirt up over his nose.

"That's useless. It wouldn't make a difference now. You've breathed in the air. It's in you now." The man coughed violently before the content of his stomach was emptied out into an old can. "Sorry," he added when he saw Jayne's screwed up face.

"That's wrong…" Jayne sidled away from the man who followed him like an obedient little puppy. "Mal, we may have a slight problem, it looks like the doc was right. So where do we go from here?"

Mal was ready to give Jayne a run for his credits. "Oh, well. We were just thinking of leaving you behind, now that you're infected. There's no hope for you now."

"Captain, that is not funny in the slightest," Jayne growled down the communicator. "So kid, what do you have here that is of worth?"

"There is very little that is of worth on this ship. Not that I'd let you have it, unless you have medical supplies for my companion. Then, maybe I'd be willing to give you something."

"Now you're talking my language. Show me what you got."

Images of treasure and luxuries danced through Jayne's mind. It had been so long since good food had touched his lips, and this was the moment that he had waited for. He was so close to the supplies, it was like he could smell it.

"Show me the medicine," the man protested, the gun rose so that the nozzle was aimed at Jayne. "Then I promise you- I promise you exactly what you want." The man began to shiver violently. "I have to check things now." He began to shuffle away, Jayne could barely move.

"We might have a little problem," Jayne whispered into the communicator. "Tell the doc, that as much as I hate to say this, he was right. I might need a little assistance. And we might need a quarantine on Serenity, because I am getting back on this ship, whether you like it or not."

"Alright Jayne. Just wait a bit. We'll try and sort something out."

Jayne carried down another corridor in pursuit of the sick man, into another confined room where a huge metal cylinder sat.

"This is yours, if you give me the medicine, I swear."

"What is it? Treasure? Credits?" Jayne asked, deep down, he hoped that it was something good. From the size of it, it could have been a huge missile launcher, but he didn't think this would fall so easily into the hands of the ill weakling.

"Something far more valuable. I can't tell you what, not until I get that medicine."

"Well, I'm going to open to now, if you don't mind." Jayne gripped the lock, about to yank it off, when the boy held the gun to his temple.

"I can't let you do that."

There was a crack and a grunt as a completely suited Mal smacked a gun across the man's head. Simon froze behind Mal, part of him forgot just how ruthless the crew of Serenity could be when they would raid. All he could do was look on disapprovingly at Mal.

"And I'm not going let you shoot down one of my men."

Within an instant, he felt his strength leave his body, Jayne's legs buckled and he hit the floor.

"Um, Doc? You might want to sort him out now…" Mal nudged Jayne with his foot and got no response. "Jayne?"

**Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = First chapter out of the way, what do you think?**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer – I don't own anything

A/N : Well, let's just say it's taken a while to decide the next move!

**The White Sun system**

With an unconscious Jayne and the ill boy lying on the floor, Mal's hand ran along the metal cylinder, his curiosity growing. He felt his way around it, hoping to find a way to break it open.

Simon, on the other hand, took a more caring approach and investigated the boy in an attempt to pinpoint the illness, hoping they had the right medication to treat it. With Jayne infected as well, Simon had to work fast. And if it was airborne, it could easily transfer to Serenity.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Captain…" Simon said, worried that the Captain's attempts to force the cylinder open might backfire. "Why don't you go explore, look for supplies?"

"Since when did I take orders from you, Doc?" Mal stood over Simon, wanting to reinforce his authority. He hated being given orders.

"I- I, I just think it will give me a chance to investigate the disease, in peace and quiet." Simon chose his words carefully. He preferred to work in silence, but he didn't want to draw too much attention to it. It would only give the crew more ammunition to annoy him with.

It was a while before Mal said anything.

"I think I'll go get some supplies."

"Remember to bring everything back here, before you take it to Serenity so I can disinfect it. I'm sure the last thing you want is for the crew to get sick," Simon said. Mal would take fewer risks if he thought it might endanger his crew.

Mal paced slowly around the ship. It was like no other he had seen before and, if he had never laid eyes on Serenity, he may have chosen this one instead. He found the three living quarters easily, each one decorated differently, just like on Serenity. Mal continued to wander the silent ship, it seemed to have descended into chaos since the breakout of the disease. He found another door that, when opened, revealed a ladder. Each rung he climbed up caused a gentle echo. He was certain it would lead to the captain's quarters. As he reached the top of the ladder, he looked up to see the most beautiful view.

"I need to get me this ship's decorator." Mal stared in amazement at the White Sun system and the thousands of stars shining through the doomed window that covered the ceiling. "I could do with a view like this."

He walked over to an old writing desk, where a rough-looking leather-bound diary sat. The writer's place had been marked by a string, looped around to the front cover and tied in a bow. Mal turned to the page.

_I would say the date, but I have lost count of the days. It could be my birthday for all I know. It's been a while since we lost June and her baby. The crew is managing to cope with it, but I'm not. June was like my sister, I knew that she always had my back, and I had hers. That's why I brought Toby along. He may have been a friend that I had known a long time, but he made June happy, and she him. It's not just June that I've lost, Jesse is still waiting on me. I promised him that I would return. I just hope that he is safe and the Authority, or the reavers, haven't harmed him. I'm meant to be in charge, but I am struggling to keep it together. We haven't found a buyer yet, and time is running out for us to give the Authority what we owe them, what I owe them-_

Mal couldn't read anymore once he read the word 'Authority' twice. He kept a hold of the diary and climbed back down the ladder, heading back to Simon.

"Find anything? Did they have any medical supplies?" Simon asked as he closed his bag which was now carrying some blood samples as well as his limited medical supply.

"Just a diary which may be an interesting read," Mal smiled. He gently dropped the diary on top of the cylinder.

Simon rolled his eyes. He had hoped that Mal would bring some medical supplies at least. It wouldn't be the first time they had stolen medicine, Mal should know what to look for.

"Anything more interesting?" Simon asked.

"Nah, not really." Mal tried to open the cylinder again, knocking on the edges and faces. "This thing just isn't going to open."

"Maybe it isn't meant to open. Maybe you should leave it until this guy wakes up-"

"Toby, this guy could be Toby," Mal interrupted. "The name was mentioned in the diary."

"I guess it might be helpful then, we can learn more about those on the ship."

Mal's hand slammed into the side of the cylinder. The diary fell to the floor and a photo of a girl and a boy slipped out. Simon saw it and picked it up. It reflected the light from overhead and he smiled.

"She's pretty," he mumbled. "They look happy, but the guy isn't this one."

"I guess…"

Simon held up the photo so that it was beside Mal's face. "She looks familiar. Who do you think they are?"

Mal snatched the photo from Simon, "That's our captain and Jesse."

"Jesse?" Simon raised his eyebrows.

"The diary."

Simon could not stand Mal's insistent knocking on the cylinder and decided to see for himself if there were any medical supplies on board. He soon found the medical bay and started packing away everything they could use.

"If you want a job done well, don't leave it to the captain of a Firefly."

On the Firefly, River was tracing her way around Serenity with her eyes closed. She felt her way through the dinner room. Shepherd and Zoe watched her, not really knowing what to do.

"River, why don't you take a seat?" Zoe pulled out the chair beside her.

"No, empty gestures. I'm training my senses. By eliminating one, the others grow stronger." Her hands glided over the counter where food was prepared. "Nasty smell." River wrinkled her nose.

The door opened and Kaylee stepped in, "How long do you think it'll be before Mal and Simon, and Jayne come back?" She seemed agitated. "I just don't like the thought of them being there, just because- If, if Simon- If any of them were to get sick, that would be real bad."

Zoe nodded. "Come on, sit down, you need to relax. How long have you known Mal? He's strong and he can get through anything. And Simon's the doctor. And Jayne is, well, he's Jayne, a little bug isn't going to stop him. He'll be fine too."

"Yeah, you're right Zoe. I should really stop panicking." Kaylee shuffled around River who was holding onto a wooden column in the middle of the dining room. She leaned back in the chair and let out a deep sigh.

"I'm just going to go check on Wash," Zoe smiled, stood up and tucked her chair in. Almost crossing her arms, she held her elbows.

It wasn't just Kaylee who was worried. Zoe was worried too. If Mal, Jayne, or even Simon got infected, Mal would force the Serenity to detach and put some distance between them.

"Baby, how much longer do you think they'll be?" Zoe asked as she made her way towards her pilot husband. When she was behind him, she began to rub his shoulders in the hope to lose the tension she herself had.

"Zoe… Zoe… You're kinda hurtin' me," Wash squeaked, his shoulders tensing up.

"Sorry, I'm just a little worried-"

Wash knew that Zoe was worried about Mal, and was probably concerned about Simon and Jayne as well, but he didn't like to see that she was stressed the way she was.

"Come on now, they'll be fine. Look, I'll pick up a communicator and patch you through to them. So you'll be in charge up here, which I wouldn't normally allow over people to do. Okay?"

Wash got up and made his way to Serenity's supplies in the hope that there would be an extra communication box somewhere in there. It was a complete mess. Most of the storage crates were stacked on the floor or the table, rather than on the shelving unit in its given spot. To clear up the boxes took longer than Wash thought he would spend to look for the communicator. There was just one left in the box. He switched it on as he walked back to the helm.

"Mal, Mal? Come in Mal?"

Over on the plagued ship, Mal heard Wash's voice emanating from Jayne's pocket. He grabbed it without a moment's hesitation as Jayne started to wake up.

"Wash, we got a survivor. Oh, and the Doc's got med supplies, I think. We've just got to see if there is any food worth taking. You can tell Zoe we're all fine, we're just going to need a decontamination booth set up for when we come back."

Wash passed that job onto his beloved wife, who squinted at him to see if he was telling lies.

On the plagued ship, Jayne had woken up and slowly sat up. Other than a pain in the head, most likely from hitting the floor, he was fine.

Simon noticed Jayne stand up and stopped him.

"Hang on a second." Simon attempted to keep Jayne from standing, but even though Jayne appeared ill, he was still stronger. "You might still be sick, you need to sit still for the moment."

"You think so?" Jayne glowered at the doctor.

"Do you think you can tell if he's got it?" Mal asked abruptly as he peered over the metal cylinder.

"What's in the tank, Mal?" Jayne pressed his ear to the cylinder but could not hear a thing. "Why don't we just wake the kid and find out?"

"You might want to keep your distance from him," Simon said. He stood up and looked at the cylinder himself. "I'm not so certain about this, it could be linked to the pathogen for all we know-"

"But the kid said it was valuable." Jayne grinned.

"Value is in the eye of the beholder," Simon contradicted. "To him, it could be something unbelievably valuable. He said it way valuable to him, but for all we know. It could be, well, horrendous."

"Um…"

"Well, take River for example. To me, she is incredibly valuable, she means everything to me. But to you, maybe less so…" Simon trailed off, hoping that Jayne would understand.

The boy began to mumble. "Medicine," he murmured. "I'll open the cylinder when we're off the ship."

"Hang on, I'm a doctor. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Well, we bought supplies from a merchant and, we started to eat the food. That's when we started dropping. Our doctor died right after he figured out the treatment. I tried to look for it, but we didn't have any. Thyromonoxin. Apparently one dose is enough to clear the system, and unless you ate the food, you're okay." The boy then gestured towards Jayne. "He's just psychologically sick, he's fine. Do you have thyromonoxin?" The boy gripped Simon's suit. "Please…" His body began to shake, like he was shivering.

"I might have some in here." Simon rummaged through his bag. He gave up quickly and emptied out the contents onto the floor. "Here." The boy took a pill and swallowed it. "Take it easy. At least now, we know that the illness is in the food. Mal, Mal?" Simon turned to see if Mal was around.

Mal appeared on cue, his helmet removed and holding onto a plate of food. Jayne leapt up and knocked it from Mal's hands. It smashed on the floor, some of the supplies rolling away down the corridors.

"What in hell's name did you do that for?" Mal yelled. That plate was the only food that he could find.

"The disease is in the food," the boy stammered. He stood up slowly, clinging to the cylinder. "I'll give you- I'll give you this if you- If you let me have the ship. But there's something I need from inside first." He held out his hand to Mal with a smile on his face.

"You got yourself a deal," Mal shook his hand, but only because he was wearing the suit. "Come on Jayne, give me a hand with this." Mal and Jayne grabbed either end of the cylinder and lifted it off the table.

They carried it through the - now unnecessary decontamination Zoe had set up with the help of Shepherd and Kaylee.

Mal and Jayne slammed the cylinder down on the table in the dining room.

"You do realise we eat on this table, right?" Shepherd raised an eyebrow.

The others ignored him.

River started to sniff the cylinder, much to everyone else's confusion. "Life, full of life," she mumbled before skipping away down the corridor.

"So, you going to open it then?" Mal asked.

"I will, when I'm sure that I have your word that the ship is mine. Put it down in writing. Then I will open the container."

**Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = Hehehe! I didn't want to give the game away, so what's in the cylinder. It's pretty big you know!**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer – I don't own anything apart from the idea itself

A/N: Thank you for reviewing the story

**The White Sun system – Aboard the Firefly**

The captain of the Firefly watched with folded arms as Toby ducked down beside the metal cylinder. Though he was trying not to show it, Mal was becoming more and more intrigued and desperate to find out what was inside. The first thing he thought it could be was supplies, or something valuable which he could sell on the black market.

"How much longer is this going to take?" Mal asked impatiently. He was beginning to wonder what Toby could be after in the container.

"Not much longer, there is a reason Jesse made this metal box, because he didn't want it to be opened unless it was absolutely necessary, but I need to get the ship away, before the Authority catch up to us. There's a price on the ship itself and you seem like you have enough on your plate. I mean, with all the black market and unlicensed dealings that are going on." Toby jumped back as the final click echoed in the silent hanger. "Right," he murmured, opening the cylinder a little.

Mal peered around to see the inside of the cylinder, but Toby seemed suddenly agitated.

"No, wait!" he snapped, stuffing something in his pocket and slamming the cylinder shut. "I've got what I need, so I'll be on my way. The cylinder is all yours. Pleasure doing business with you, Captain Reynolds." Toby held his hand out to Mal, who reluctantly shook it.

After Toby and the small spaceship had disappeared into the distant empty space, Mal could barely hold the excitement in, but he felt a small bit of doubt from Toby's recent actions and reaction when he opened the cylinder.

Placing his hands on the cylinder, Mal braced himself for what might be within. The metal didn't even feel cold to him and when he opened it enough to see what was inside, he instantly dropped the lid and staggered backwards. Feeling sick to the stomach, he held the back of his hand to his mouth.

"What kind of sick-"

"I take it you didn't find what you wanted then?"

Mal looked up to see Simon standing at the top of the steps with a slight smirk plastered across his face.

"No- of course I did."

"Why don't you let me take a look?" Simon walked down the stairs and put his hands under the lid of the cylinder. "Well, why don't you help me?"

Mal raised an eyebrow as if to say _'really?' _but he eventually gave in and helped Simon lift the lid.

"Oh," was all that Simon could muster.

Inside the cylinder and what the pair were looking at, was something they had never seen before. It was a girl – a woman – she had some familiar looking injuries and her clothes were dirty with cuts and tears in them that were crusted with blood. Despite being in tatters, the girl wore a dark green shirt, brown trousers that sat high on her waist and had braces hanging down and a holster was attached to a loose belt.

"What do you think that is?" Simon asked. "Do you think it's-"

"It's reaver alright, and I want it off my ship. And if I can't do that, I'll put a bullet in its skull."

Simon shook his head as Mal walked away. "I don't think so, the injuries may look like a reaver inflicted them, but she is still human."

At the mention of the word 'human', Mal turned back, squaring up to Simon. "If I say I want it off my ship, I want it off my ship."

Before Simon could say another word, Mal shut the cylinder and walked up towards the hull. The young doctor debated hiding the cylinder to run tests on it, but decided against it – Mal was angry enough with him and he didn't need another excuse to make everything worse. Simon paced up the stairs after the Captain when he was met by Kaylee.

"Hey Simon," she said, smiling broadly.

"Kaylee… I was just going to the-" Simon pointed down the corridor.

"Me too!" she interrupted, pulling him that way.

The pair passed Jayne who strode in between them, heading for the hanger to get a quick peek at the cylinder's content, but when he reached the hanger, the lid was at a right angle, propped open. As he got a closer look inside it, Jayne was irritated when he saw that it was empty.

"Wow… That was not worth the health scare," he muttered.

A gentle snarling growl could be heard in the corner which alerted Jayne of the presence of another being in the hanger.

Instinctively, Jayne pulled out his pistol and held it pointing upwards. Nothing was going to stop him missing the target. He followed the sound of the growling, towards the corner of the hanger. As he reached the comms unit, he held the button down to patch through to the hull.

"Somehow, I don't think that it was a good thing in that metal casket."

"What?" he heard Mal reply.

"The casket's empty…"

The silence told Jayne no one else was expecting the metal cylinder would be empty. Jayne still couldn't resist a good chase with the aim to kill. When he was sure which crate the intruder was behind, Jayne aimed a warning shot to the right of the crate, so that it would escape around the left.

Just as he thought it would, the intruder crawled out the left side, ready for a kill shot from Jayne.

"Jayne!"

The shout caught Jayne off guard and he completely missed the intruder who cowered back in the corner. Gritting his teeth, Jayne turned to see Simon, Kaylee, Zoe and Mal standing along the walkway above him.

"Jayne, come this way, slowly and carefully," Mal suggested strongly. "Seeing as everything is already harnessed down in the hanger, we can just easily flush it out the airlock. Clear the hanger!"

"Mal – we need to be reasonable," Simon sighed. "At least let me carry out some tests on her. I just want to clarify a few things first, and if I can cure it I need to be sure…"

"No one is going near that thing," Mal replied once Jayne was at the bottom of the stairs.

"So it's true, we have an unexpected guest on the ship."

Everyone turned to see Inara walk across towards them in a majestic manner.

"It's nothing you need to worry about, Inara," Mal ushered the others out from the hanger.

Inara grabbed his arm, "Is that her?" she asked, looking at the woman crouching on the floor and simply observing the crew. "I have to agree with Simon on this one, Mal. We can't just flush her out, because we don't understand something. You of all people should remember that." Inara stared at Mal with eyes full of memories that they shared.

"Well I don't think we should just kill it… Simon's right, he might be able to find a way to save her before it's too late," Kaylee added boldly, just so that she would be heard.

"I wonder why," Jayne muttered quietly.

Simon disappeared down the walkway, towards the infirmary.

"Stop," the young woman called out. Her cleaner hand shot up to her forehead. "No!" Her scream echoed throughout Firefly.

The crew watched her cautiously as she got up to her feet.

"Jay- Jay-."

"Is she- is she saying, Jayne?" Kaylee asked, leaning forwards a little, thankful for the distance between her and the new inhabitant – if that is what the content of the metal cylinder may be called.

Inara held up a finger. "No, it doesn't sound like Jayne, Jaydah, or Jaina maybe- there's definitely an extra syllable in there."

Appearing a little rattled and annoyed that someone had taken his kill shot, Jayne pulled out his gun from its holster and squeezed the trigger.

The woman threw herself towards Jayne as soon as the gun was taken out of its holster. Caught off guard, Jayne crashed to the floor feeling a crushing pain in his back. The woman cracked Jayne's gun hand down on the metal floor causing it to drop from his grip before she rolled away behind another crate.

All that could be heard was her heavy breathing. Simon slid rapidly down the stairs, past Jayne as he got up, a grimacing look on his face.

"Be careful, Simon," Kaylee said quietly, watching Simon open up the case he had picked up from the infirmary.

"I'll be okay," Simon replied calmly, flicking a syringe and watching a tiny bit of liquid squirt out on the floor. "Here we go…" Carefully, the doctor approached the young woman who looked more like a girl to him.

In a swift movement, the injection was administered. Within less than a minute, the woman slumped down so that she was lying face down on the hanger deck. Taking her wrist, Simon inserted a needle into the flesh and watched as a connecting tube started to fill a bloodbag on the other end.

"What are you going to do, Simon?" Zoe queried, overthrown with curiosity.

"You'll see in due time," Simon replied.

After plugging the blood into a reader that the Firefly crew had looted many moons ago, Simon found something incredibly intriguing.

"That can't be right. No, it can't, because that's impossible." Simon looked between the screen of the device and the unconscious part reaver girl that lay motionless on the medical chair.

"You going to say what's so impossible, right Simon?"

Simon felt himself jump, startled by the voice of the ship's captain by the door.

"Something peculiar. Not only are her antibodies fighting the reaver infection, but her DNA has an identical base sequence to yours. Your DNA and her DNA show too much of a similarity for you to not be related."

Mal frowned, unable to comply with what Simon was saying.

"Congratulations- I guess?"

But the captain shook his head. "No- not in the world. It makes no sense."

"Captain!" Wash yelled out from the hull of the ship. "We've got a problem!"

Mal quickly abandoned Simon and headed to the hull. "What's the problem?"

"Just the fact that our number one fan has found us once again- and I don't think they're after your autograph this time."

One of the computer screens showed up with a senior officer from the Authority sitting behind a console.

"Captain Reynolds of the Serenity class ship called Firefly, you are ordered to stand down and prepare for boarding."

"And we can't outrun them either – we've just about got enough fuel to get to the nearest planet," Zoe whispered quietly, squeezing Mal's arm, she knew all too well that this was his usual plan of action.

"This is Captain Reynolds – why don't you tell us what business you have coming aboard and then we'll discuss having a little tea party?"

"You are in possession of Jaina Reign- a subject of the Authority's, she is unstable and she needs to be returned to us before she becomes a risk to your crew."

On the screen, an image of the part reaver woman's face before a reaver attack appeared. Mal didn't know if it was just because Simon had told him that their DNA was so similar, but he was starting to see all these similarities between them. What caught his attention was the way that her surname had been spelt – Reyn.

_So do I give her up?_ Mal thought to himself. _I have to, she's not related to me, and I have to put my crew first…_

**Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = So I guess you didn't see that coming – (I'm guessing here – I've no idea!) **


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer – I don't own anything apart from the idea itself

A/N: Thank you for reviewing the story

**The White Sun system – Aboard the Firefly**

"The Authority are still requesting to come aboard the ship… They're trying to negotiate that they'll turn a blind eye to the ransacking we last did in return for Jaina Reyn," Zoe told the Captain, only relaying what Wash had told her. "What are you thinking?"

"We give her up," Mal replied with a sting that cut Zoe at the heart.

"But even after what Simon said about your DNA compatibility? Effectively your own flesh and blood – are you really willing to give her up?"

"In theory, she isn't mine. She just happens to be related to me. If I give her up now, I don't have the opportunity to establish any kind of relationship with her." Mal seemed to ignore the fact that Jaina was his only family because he felt like it was all some kind of a rouse to get the Authority on board his ship.

"Captain!" Wash called out with that usual panic in his voice whenever something went wrong. "They're docking now!"

Mal sprinted across the walkway, hearing the metal clanging with each step until he reached the hanger deck. Taking the comms link to the other side of the docking station, he held it to his lips.

"I really didn't want you aboard my ship – I agreed to your request if you drop the charges of anything you believe the crew on this ship have done."

There was a pause that followed a crackled response.

"Captain – you and your crew are not safe with Jaina Reyn aboard your ship so it is best we extract her ourselves."

A frown dug its way across Mal's face as he heard a whirling sound and crackling following it – he knew they were trying to force their way onto his vessel, and Firefly was too bruised and battered for him to let that happen. As much as he didn't want to, he pressed the comms link to his mouth.

"Knock it off – I'll open the airlock for you to come aboard if you just knock it off."

"Are you sure you want to do that, Captain?" Kaylee asked calmly, leaning over the railing above Mal.

"She can't take much more battering – Firefly needs more parts and I don't think it'll be easy to find a new airlock door, but we can put a scrap piece on the mess they leave behind."

"And by we, you mean me?"

"Well now that you've volunteered, yes."

As the airlock opened up, Mal's arm was instantly grabbed by one bulky looking authority guards. It was at that moment that he knew it was a setup to get two birds with one stone. The Authority not only got Jaina Reyn, but they were about to get the entire crew of the Firefly, including River. With his free hand, Mal pressed the red emergency alert button, signalling to the rest of the crew that something was wrong. A swarm of soldiers filed their way through the corridors and walkways of the ship, grabbing any crew members they came across.

"Captain Malcolm Reynolds – so good to see you. Now isn't this interesting that you are in possession of one of our workforce – Miss Jaina Reyn…" The leading Authority captain squared up to Firefly captain.

"What's so special about her?" Mal raised an eyebrow in curiosity, wanting to know the truth, but at the same time, he didn't care when his crew were at risk.

"She's only a survivor of a reaver attack, nothing too special." The Authority Captain turned to his officers who were awaiting their next set of orders.

"That's not the only thing, is it?"

"Oh, if I told you more, then that would just ruin the fun…" he said to Mal, smirking a little. "You won't find out anytime soon."

Simon came running down the pathway, calling out Jaina's name, but froze mid-sentence when he saw the Authority members holding onto the present crew members. "Oh."

"What was that? Did I hear you say her name?" the Authority Captain asked, smirking at the doctor. "Interesting, interesting because that confirms she is somewhere on this ship at least. I want this ship turned upside down if it must be done in order to find her."

"But she's where she belongs. She's among family here…" Simon said, stumbling over his words as he tried to string together a sentence that might help the situation.

"Well, well, well. You call her family," the Authority Captain replied before squaring up to Mal. "She is far from family – she is a genetically grown specimen that has survived a reaver attack. On top of that, she has taken a leaf from her father's book and stolen a spaceship that she has used to hold up many Authority bases across the system." When he realised that Mal was still following his taunts, he continued. "That's right, Captain Reynolds. That DNA sample that was acquired from you in return for your freedom. Admittedly it was a poor deal on our part. Your sample turned out to contain a gene trait that we were searching for. So we created a living and breathing human being, kept in stasis until she was ready, but a system's failure allowed her to escape before she was ready. We've been following her all this time, across multiple systems and on various station ports. Every single time, she managed to evade our clutches. Now, we have had enough, and we want her back."

Mal remembered everything about that day – it was years ago, when he was struggling for money and decided that it was worth giving his DNA to the Authority for that easy income. But it didn't make a difference as to whether Jaina was his daughter, or not. Having not shared a past together, he had no father, daughter relationship to break by handing her over to the Authority.

"Feel free to search the ship – you'll find her in the hospital wing," Mal informed them in a cold tone.

"She's not there, she got out. I tried to stop her, but the injection I gave her was not received well." Simon looked apologetically down at the captain before glancing at the other crew members.

The soldiers began to flip boxes and push them aside, creating quite a rift with the crew members as boxes were broken into. Looted items were carried back onto the Authority ship as a junior soldier informed his captain of the content of the containers.

"Take the crew under custody of the Authority," the captain declared, grinning maniacally as Mal and his crew were dragged away onto the Authority's ship. "I used to like this class and model," he added, looking up at the interior of Serenity. He started to walk up the steps to explore the ship himself, knowing that his soldiers were going to come back saying they never found the girl. Whilst he gave the order that the spacecraft be docked at the nearby space station, he found himself watching his senior officer guide the ship into the docking port. "Looks like the boss is going to be very impressed when we bring the whole crew under Malcolm Reynold's command to her, not to mention the addition of Jaina Reyn."

"You said it, Captain."

Malcolm Reynolds was in cuffs. His crew were in cuffs. There was some reaver woman roaming around his ship. The Authority was at the head of his ship. Things weren't looking great.

"What now, Mal?" Zoe asked, trying to catch his eye.

"Now we wait and see what happens…" Mal was beginning to admit defeat, much unlike his true personality, but right now, he didn't really know what this was. "But I don't have any plans if that's what you mean. We've been stripped of any weapons we had and there don't seem to be any escape routes without being seen." He glanced at the numerous soldiers that were standing guard at the two doors of the room they were being kept in.

"We might just have to sit tight…" Kaylee mumbled, leaning on Simon.

"Just give me a second and I can bust out of these cuffs," Jayne snarled, clenching his fists as if to imply it would be the perfect task to show off his strength.

"No Jayne, that's not a good idea. It's only going to get you knocked out."

The crew was sent flying across the floor as the spacecraft was knocked by something. The first thought was that another craft had collided with something… Soldiers filed into the room through one door and straight out the other. Whilst the crew questioned the soldiers, they were simply ignored and forced to stay where they were. However, Jayne was not prepared to sit and wait so he jammed his foot into the gap in the door just before it closed.

"Well I'm not sitting about waiting to be told what's happening…" Jayne rolled onto his knees and then his feet before heading out the door.

Zoe sighed lightly. "Guess someone better follow him so that he doesn't do anything stupid, even though it's a little late for that."

Mal and Zoe chased after their crew mate, even though all three of them were still constricted by the metal cuffs around their wrists. They darted about the maze of corridors after Jayne until he found himself facing a young and weak looking trainee soldier.

"Don't move or, or, or I'll shoot!" the boy called out in a shaky voice – his finger trembling as it rested on the trigger. "I mean it!"

"No!" a husky voice called out, and in an instant, a blur threw itself at the soldier, slamming his wrist against the metal floor so that the gun was sent flying across the ground, but when Jayne's saviour saw the Firefly crew, they ran away, disappearing around the corner.

"Was that- was that Jaina?" Zoe asked, looking at Mal with a concerned look on her face. "It's remarkable what science can do with a bit of DNA, don't you think?"

Mal mumbled an agreement before retrieving the magnetic device from the unconscious soldiers belt that would unlock the cuffs around his wrists. First, he unlocked his crew mates' so that they could do his ones. "Now it's time to get my crew off this sad excuse for an Authority vessel."

The three of them went back to free the Firefly crew with the unconscious soldier over Jayne's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Like a hostage, or a bargain chip, but with a quick word from Wash, they soon realised that this was a redundant plan. The Authority wouldn't care about a small soldier – there weren't many people that the Authority would care about, unless they had a high price on their heads.

"Captain – this vessel is moving. I think they're taking us to a station nearby…" Kaylee said, placing a hand on the wall. "I can feel it."

"Well it's time to take action…" Jayne remarked.

Before anyone could say anything, a flurry of soldiers entered the holding room.

"Oh, I don't think you will be going anywhere any time soon…" the Authority Captain said, waving his wrist to get the soldiers to put the cuffs back on Mal and his crew.

One soldier walked boldly forwards with their tinted visor down. Their gloved hands lightly pressed the cuffs onto Mal's wrists and then looked up at him for a moment, before clicking the cuffs tighter. Mal seemed to hear a slight growl from behind the visor.

"Let's leave Carson to watch the prisoners – if they move one inch out of line, do what you do best." The Authority Captain saluted the soldier standing beside Mal before ushering the other soldiers out of the holding cell.

Mal instantly delivered a kick to the soldier's knee.

"Let's kick the living daylights out of him," Jayne muttered, taking a step closer to the soldier lying on the floor.

"No, wait!" Zoe protested, kneeling beside the soldier whose visor had cracked on impact of hitting the floor. Putting her hands on each side of the helmet, Zoe started to slowly lift it off the soldier. "I thought so…" she added when she saw the young face she believed to be Jaina Reyn.

The young girl's opened shot open and she backed away from Zoe, clutching her side in pain. "No!" she hissed, scratching at her neck. "You ruined everything! I had it under control until you decided to play hero!" Jaina gestured at Jayne and Mal. "No wonder you're always captured by the Authority, you couldn't even hide a common cold."

"Hey- now you listen to me, missy. I am the captain of this crew, and if you think that you had a plan for saving my crew, then you are wrong!" Mal squared up to the young girl with a finger raised at the girl who had been grown from his DNA.

"Look at him having his first telling off…" Kaylee mumbled to Simon.

Jaina raised her eyebrows at the captain. "You're Malcolm Reynolds, you're who I've been grown from. The man who is believed to be my father. Sorry excuse for a father you are."

"But I am not your father, kid!" Mal shouted.

"Oh yeah, well maybe I don't want to be your daughter either – I've done just fine on my own without a father, so I can carry on doing so, okay?" Jaina retaliated. She then opened up a ventilation shaft and jammed the spinning propeller. "Well you enjoy getting yourselves out of this one then, 'Dad'!"

Before they could do anything, Jaina disappeared into the tiny ventilation shaft.

**Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = Ah, another chapter out of the way, and it's been a while now, so I hope you enjoyed it!**


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